Two-for-one crab

Take the plunge one night for a cracked-crab feast, and save the shells for a rich-flavored soup the next day

If you love crab, don't settle for market-cooked. Plunging the live crustaceans into boiling water yourself is breath-catching, to be sure, but once you've tasted incredibly sweet, succulent home-cooked meat, there will be no going back. By doing it yourself, you have total control over two quality factors: how long the crabs cook and how salty they are.

You can double the return on your labor investment by saving the shells to make an intensely flavored broth for a lively soup.